Libyan rebels, formin meet with African officials

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Libya's foreign minister Abdelati Obeidi and two representatives of the country's rebels were meeting with African Union officials to discuss a possible solution to the Libyan conflict, the AU said on Monday.

Earlier this month, rebels rejected a plan by the AU to halt the civil war in Libya, because it did not include the departure of Muammar Gaddafi and his sons.

"This will be the first time that they (rebels) are attending a meeting here. We will meet both sides one after the other," Ramtane Lamamra, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, told Reuters.

The rebels are represented in Ethiopia by Al Zubedi Abdalla, a former ambassador to South Africa, and Bujeldain Abdalla, a former Libyan ambassador to Uganda. Both men told Reuters they would comment after the meetings.

Obeidi held a meeting with the African Union commission chairman Jean Ping, AU officials said, adding that both sides would hold separate meetings with the group's Peace and Security Council later on Monday.

The foreign minister and the rebels will also hold separate meetings with representatives of international groups, including the United Nations and the European Union.

The talks will focus on a solution for the conflict in Libya, AU said.

The African Union does not have a good track record in brokering peace deals, having failed recently to end conflicts or disputes in Somalia, Madagascar and Ivory Coast.